School Days

We had a happy ten-thirty worship service yesterday with the Children's Choir, and all the kids and their backpacks, and a wonderful back-to-school Altar arrangement, good hymns and good scripture, an old time Sunday School Bible story about Solomon and the Lord, and a Gospel about Jesus as the Bread of Life. It was a riot.

Something the Rector does from time to time that is always fun is having all the children come up inside the rail and join him around the Altar for The Great Thanksgiving, which is the Eucharistic Prayer. Standing behind and watching the children is a trip, they enjoy it so, and sometimes it’s possible for me to snap a picture. The last time I did so was Pajama Sunday, and the little boy right in front of me had a head of hair that looked like he’d just got out of bed. 

Our ten-thirty service yesterday was the Blessing of the Backpacks, and while the major morning rainstorm seemed to dampen attendance, there was still a respectable crowd of children and backpacks. My thought was to have the children come back up during the Offertory and join me at the Altar, but there was still a huge pile of Backpack Ministry backpacks piled against the Altar after the children took their own backpacks away, so it wouldn’t have worked, it wasn’t possible for the kids to crowd up to the Altar.

They seemed to love it anyway. During the prayer for blessing the backpacks, the backpacks all got sprinkled with Holy Water from the River Jordan; and seeing that we were praying God to bless the children too, they all got mightily sprinkled as well. This generated shrieks and giggles and all the children waving their hands and jumping up and down for more sprinkling -- which they got -- and then picked up their backpacks and marched out behind the Children’s Cross as the congregation sang “I Am the Bread of Life” and we went on to hear from Jesus in the Gospel according to John, chapter 6, the “Bread of Life Discourse.”

It was enormous fun. May God bless each and every one of them as they start their new school year throughout Bay County this morning. Amen!

Tom+